Hair Raisers

Taking a cue from the sculptural static and free-form flyaways on recent runways, Zoe Ruffner untames her tresses.

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We can thank Miuccia Prada for the fact that I am considering disheveling an impeccably pristine blowout. You see, earlier this year, on Miu Miu's fall 2023 runway, the Italian designer unleashed a parade of models whose flyaways and sculptural static were as thrilling as her crystal-encrusted knickers. That the undone hair topped off otherwise meticulous lengths made it not only stand up but stand out. Emma Corrin's cowlick-rivaled perhaps only by the signature style of The Little Rascals' Alfalfa-went viral moments after the actor closed the show.

"The nuance of having just that one area lifted feels really fresh," says historian Rachael Gibson, noting that the I-can't-bother-with-a-brush rebellion has its roots in 1960s counterculture. Before then, she's quick to point out, any above-the-neck disarray was considered "a sign that something was wrong in your life." (In one hair-raising instance from the 19th century, it even resulted in death: As historian Sonya Lipsett-Rivera reports, one Simón Antonio Retama stabbed his wife after she returned home with what seemed to him postcoital tresses.) These days, though, amid the buttoned-up tendencies of modern life, Miu Miu's controlled chaos came as a welcome clarion call for letting (a little) loose.